Christmas, Friends and Family
by alphafairy
Summary: A Christmas Countdown Challenge. Probably all characters involved. Everybody lives AU. Rated M just in case.
1. December 01

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf**

**A/N: **Hey Guys!

This is my first story ever, so if you feel like reviewing please be gentle with me. I like constructive criticism as much as the next guy, but downright rude reviews will be ignored.

You all know the drill. This is a Christmas challenge so I'll have a new chapter up every day and maybe a bonus on Christmas day, if I can manage. I'll try to keep the tone of the entries light hearted (because y'know, Christmas) but if there is anything that I think may be triggering (child abuse, murder, etc.) I'll put a warning at the top of the chapter.

Hope you enjoy and thanks for reading :)

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><p>Seven pm, twelve supernatural incident free days, and Isaac was wondering if trigonometry really was something he'd use in real life.<p>

He gazed lazily about his room for a distraction. He'd cleaned up yesterday, his laundry already in the washing machine.

Mrs McCall was probably finishing her shift soon, she said she'd pick up Scott on her way home. Probably a good idea to get dinner started then.

Isaac was just chopping mushrooms to go into the bolognaise he was making when they got home.

"Hey guys, dinner's going to be ready in about half an hour." He greeted them as they came into the kitchen.

"Thank you, Isaac. You're a life saver." Mrs McCall ruffled his hair as she took over.

"French got you beat?" Asked Scott knowingly.

"Trig." Replied Isaac. "What's in the bag?"

Scott held up the carrier bags that he'd came in with, an excited, child-like expression on his face. (Isaac had always thought it ironic that Scott could look like a puppy at times.) "Dude! They're advent calendars! One for each of us."

"Aren't we a little old for them?" Isaac asked sceptically. Of course even though Isaac had never had an advent calendar before he'd often seen them in the supermarkets, when he was little he'd wanted one, but such notions were quickly beat out of him at a young age.

"Probably . . . technically . . . " Scott waved the hand that wasn't holding the bag, looking for an excuse.

"Never." Supplied Mrs McCall.

"So what do we do with them?" Isaac asked, taking the one designed with fire trucks out of the bag.

"You've never had an advent calendar before?" Scott asked, then cringed.

Isaac saved him with a look. "Ideological differences I guess. Question still stands."

"It's like a countdown to Christmas, every day you open the box and eat the little chocolate inside. It's fun!"

"And since today is the First of December, you can start now." Chimed in Mrs McCall, taking the butterfly patterned one.

They each took time to find the number and eat their piece, calling out what it was.

"Mine is a tree." Said Scott, popping it in his mouth.

"Candy cane." Called out Mrs McCall.

"It's a little Santa." Said Isaac, examining his chocolate carefully.

"See, it's fun." Said Scott, misinterpreting Isaac's excitement about participating in a family activity as enthusiasm for festive treats.

Months ago, Isaac didn't even dream about having a proper family. Weeks ago, it became a reality. Hours ago, Isaac still doubted it. In minutes Isaac's outlook on life changed dramatically.

They had no idea what they had done for him, but now Isaac had a family.


	2. December 02

**Disclaimer: ****I do not own Teen Wolf**

**A/N: **Hey! I forgot to mention this in the first chapter, but I think most of the stories I'll be writing for this fic will probably be AU. The Nothing Bad Ever Happens Ever type of AU.

Hope you enjoy!

Melissa McCall had spent half the morning in the basement looking for the tiny blue tome sitting on the kitchen counter.

An ancient cookbook passed down from family member to family member - some lovingly, some with a shrug - over the years until, sixteen years ago with a husband and a baby on the way, it was in her hands.

Really there was nothing special about the recipes added over the years by various generations - some worked, some didn't, some tasted good, and some decidedly did not. Most of it's value was sentimental.

Except for one recipe, an addition from her Grandmother.

Normally Melissa would be in bed now, asleep until it was time for another night shift, but with Isaac and Scott at school it was the only time she had to be able to do this.

The smell of the spices wafted around the house and Melissa prepared for the secret ritual.

She stirred three times and made a wish, something she'd had the forethought to think of in preparation. As the single mother of two teenage werewolves who couldn't avoid trouble to save their own skins, she had a lot to wish for.

Melissa poured the batter into the tin as the boys came in, noses in the air.

"What's that?" Asked Isaac.

"What's Christmas without fruitcake?" Replied Melissa putting the mixture in the oven.

"It's only the beginning of December, Mom." Scott rolled his eyes.

"It takes time to make a good fruitcake. You'll understand when you're older and you have kids stealing the last slice."

Melissa gently picked up the ancient book and left the room as her boys crowded around the oven.


	3. December 03

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf**

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><p>Derek was grumpy, Cora could tell. But then again, Derek was always grumpy about something or other. She could imagine him as an old man telling 'those damn kids to get off my lawn.'<p>

The source of Derek's grumpiness was a hat. _Just a hat for crying out loud, it wasn't like she'd forced him into the whole suit!_

Derek glared at the wall from his position on the sofa, arms folded, frown firmly in place and the bobble of his Santa hat bobbing against his nose. He batted it away.

Derek looked as if he was regretting his recent life choices. Like taking Cora Christmas shopping. Very bad idea.

"How long do I have to wear this?" He snapped.

"Until the spirit of Christmas swells up inside of you, like in those holiday movies Cora forced us to watch yesterday." Peter replied from the kitchen table nonsurplused. Of course he wasn't bothered, he had gotten off lightly with antlers sticking out of his hair. He turned the page in the newspaper. "Just let it go, Derek."

Another bad idea. Never let emotionally repressed werewolves watch Frozen again. How the hell Cora had talked him into that one he would never know.

"Exactly like Peter said, Derek. It's the first family Christmas we've had in years. It's not going to ruined by a sourwolf."

"You've been talking to Stiles, haven't you?"

"Just embrace the spirit, Derek."

Derek huffed, batting the white bobble away again.


	4. December 04

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf.**

The sheriff's sneezing fit finally ended as the dust settled and his son came home.

"Hey Dad, what've you got there?" Stiles pointed to the dusty boxes on the kitchen counter, freshly retrieved from the attic.

"Christmas lights. I was thinking about getting them out early this year since I'm probably going to be busy policing the holiday madness." The sheriff opened the box, muttering to himself. "Honestly people in this town . . . and I thought black Friday was bad."

A Polaroid photo, yellowing and crumpled, dropped onto the floor.

"Whoops! You dropped this." Stiles picked it up and examined it. "Mom." He murmured, getting the sheriff's attention from where he was trying to untangle the lights.

He dodged around the counter and peered over his son's shoulder. His heart swelled with love and ached with loss at the scene depicted in the photo.

The sheriff remembered taking it. Stiles was only four at the time, a big, toothy grin on his face and a new toy fire truck sitting in his lap, the wrapping paper discarded on the floor. Claudia was sitting just behind him, clapping her hands at Stiles' delight with his present. She was being extra cheerful in front of Stiles that day because he'd woken up to their arguing - he couldn't remember about what now, something petty he was sure. God, if he'd known then.

"How old was I?" Stiles asked, interrupting the sheriff's trip down memory lane.

"Four. And a half. You were always specific about the halves back then, I think it made you think you were more mature." He replied with a quiet chuckle.

"Do you think she knew, back then? That something was wrong with her?"

The sheriff hesitated before he answered. "I honestly don't know, Son."

"I miss her." Stiles handed him the photo.

The sheriff tucked it into the frame of a small painting on the wall as he replied. "I miss her too."

They stood in an awkward silence, both visiting their own memories.

The sheriff spoke first. "Want to help me with these lights?" He asked, mimicking the over-cheerfulness that he remembered.

"Sure." Stiles replied, pretending he didn't notice.

With the sheriff's knot-untangling expertise and Stiles' smarts with electricity, they had the lights up and ready to go before sundown.

By the time they had finished and were sitting down in the lounge with a cup of cocoa between frozen fingers, they had almost forgotten about the picture.

But not really, never really. Memories like that always floated on the edges of their minds, dealt with separately, an invisible, unintended wedge between them.


	5. December 05

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf**

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><p>Allison may have been new to hunting, but she had seen quite a few things in her time. A perpetually grumpy werewolf wearing antlers - well, that was something else entirely.<p>

They both stood awkwardly in the middle of the aisle. Allison sorry-I-tried-to-kill-you-that-one-time Argent and Derek I'm-the-alpha-now Hale, having a showdown in the middle of Macy's.

Damn it. Allison knew something bad was going to happen the second Lydia burst into her room telling her they were going Christmas shopping. Allison glanced over at Lydia, she was choosing different dresses and hurling them on to the ever-growing stack in the attendants arms.

"Derek."

He nodded. Only polite, considering.

"What's with the antlers?" She asked eventually.

He grimaced. "Cora is trying to instill me with the _spirit of Christmas_." He spat. "Apparently I have graduated to Rudolph."

"From?"

Derek glared. No answer was forthcoming.

She changed the subject. "Why are you here?"

"Christmas shopping."

"In the ladies department? I thought only your uncle did that." She scowled.

He scowled with her. "Cora."

"And you really think she would wear that?" Lydia said approaching them, the attendant trotting off to find a changing room.

Derek looked at the sequined fabric in his hands, held gingerly, almost as if he was afraid it would bite him. "Yes . . . " He replied, almost sounding like he was asking a question.

"Nope." Said Lydia taking Derek by the wrist.

And just like that, Allison's day took a turn for the better.

She watched from a safe distance as Lydia practically dragged a bewildered Derek around the department, repeating her routine from before. (The attendant himself was also keeping a wary distance.)

Allison kept her giggles silent, knowing the werewolf would hear her, but the second she got home she burst out laughing - unable to explain the cause to her Dad.

Luckily the photos she had managed to secretly snap following a determined banshee and an increasingly traumatized, antler-wearing werewolf were an excellent visual aid.


	6. December 06

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf**

**A/N: **Sorry this one doesn't have as much thought put into it as the others, I'm having a pretty stressful week at work.

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><p>Scott was confused. Stiles would probably say that was an apt description of their whole lives at the moment, but this time Scott was confused about something ordinary.<p>

"Doctor Deaton, something's wrong." He said looking at his wage slip.

"Really? And what's that?" Dr Deaton asked as he observed one of his patients - a tabby cat - waking up.

"You've overpaid me."

"I have?"

"Yeah! I'm sure." Scott counted on his fingers. "Yeah you have."

"Surely not."

"Yeah. Right here." Scott pointed at the error.

Dr Deaton glanced over at it. It was indeed a considerable error. "That's your Christmas bonus, Scott."

"My what?"

"Christmas bonus."

"I didn't know I got one."

"You do."

"Oh."

"Merry Christmas, Scott."

"Merry Christmas, Doctor Deaton."


	7. December 07

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf**

**A/N: **I will admit, I am a Sterek shipper, but this is probably the only chapter it will feature in.

Hope you enjoy!

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><p>At Lydia's order, they all attended her Christmas party. All of them. There were less than twenty people in the room. She'd gone all out.<p>

Tinsel lined every wall, door and window frame; a six foot Christmas tree decorated to the brim with all sorts of trinkets and baubles sat front and centre; mistletoe hung in every corner (mostly as an excuse to make out).

Lydia welcomed her guests and noted with satisfaction as everyone's eyes lit up upon entering. Even Derek Hale, who Lydia also noted was no longer wearing antlers.

After everyone had arrived and had been handed unspiked punch (for whatever reason Peter still refused his glass,) she watched from a corner as her friends - her family - mingled.

Of course, since Lydia can't have nice things for too long it all went down hill.

She knew she should have kept a better eye on Stiles. She knew the second he saw the mistletoe hanging from the chandelier that she should of acted. Oh the power of hindsight.

She watched as Stiles stood on his tip toes trying to examine the little plant hanging innocently, trying to determine if it was real or not.

She should of also watched Cora, she again noted.

With a mischievous twinkle in her eye she pushed Derek forward.

Derek who then crashed into Stiles and practically clung to him to try to keep his balance.

"Oooh, you two should kiss." Said Cora, pointing to the mistletoe hanging above them.

Derek frowned and Stiles looked away blushing.

Everyone started chanting - even Mrs McCall, Lydia observed - "Kiss, kiss, kiss." In a little circle around the two. No escape.

After Derek tried (and failed) to use his alpha eyes to get the werewolves out of his way, he gave up. He took the floundering Stiles by the chin and kissed him. Very passionately, with not even a hint of platonic-ness between them.

Stiles flung his arms around Derek's shoulders as the room cheered.

"_Finally_." Lydia heard Peter mumble as Isaac nodded.


	8. December 08

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf**

**A/N: **Sorry this one is so short! I've had the Longest day at work (yes the capital L is needed) and I am bushed!

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><p>Peter woke up at two in the morning to the sound of obnoxious Christmas songs.<p>

He wandered down stairs and paused at the site in front of him.

Derek lay asleep on the sofa, a pile of Christmas movies in front of him, the credits rolling on a film called _Home Alone. _

Peter switched the TV off and placed a blanket over his nephew's frame.

He made his way back to bed reminding himself to tell Cora the next time he sees her that her Spirit of Christmas therapy had been a success.


	9. December 09

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf**

**A/N: ** Another short one sorry!

I've always been in love with the idea that Lydia was a secret philanthropist :)

Please read and review!

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><p>Lydia was nothing if not a planner. As such, here she was two weeks in advance planning what costume she would wear on Christmas day. It was a tradition of hers. Every year she would dress up as something new. This year it's going to be Mrs Santa.<p>

She pulled out her sewing kit and set to work. Lydia discovered a few years ago when she started the tradition that store costumes for women came in two varieties. Just Plain Tacky and Way Too Slutty. So she had to adapt.

Not that she minded the sexy costumes that much, but they weren't very appropriate for _her _Christmas day.

She could imagine the kids faces now as she walked in to the Group homes around Beacon Hills as she came in dressed up as Mrs Santa to deliver donated toys to the kids who needed them most.

She had had to already decline invites to several different get-togethers, (and they had all asked her if she was feeling ill for some reason,) but it was worth it.


	10. December 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf**

_I don't want to be here. _The Sheriff realized with a frown.

He stared around at the party, everyone chatting happily. It was decided that they would have the office Christmas party early this year - you never know when some of that mysterious crime wave may make another appearance.

The Sheriff mingled for awhile, made sure that everyone was enjoying themselves, then quietly slipped away.

He got home (it wasn't hard to find the Stilinski house at night - they may have gone a bit overboard with decorating. The Sheriff wondered when the complaints will start;) and found Stiles and Scott in the living room playing some game on the playstation.

"Hey Dad!" Stiles called out when he saw the Sheriff. "Want a game?"

The Sheriff smiled and took the controller from Stiles "What do I have to do?"

Stiles and Scott launched into explanation and cheers of encouragement when the Sheriff started the game.

Needless to say he lost hopelessly, 'but with practise he'd get better.' Stiles told him nodding sagely.

The Sheriff didn't take another turn. Content to watching his boys play, egging them on and patting their back when they lost.

Funnily enough, this is exactly where the Sheriff wants to be.


End file.
